Friday, 21 July 2017

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has finally heard the calls of the sporting world to postpone the Africa Cup of Nations outside the footballing season as the 2019 edition will be held in June and July and has been expanded to feature 24 teams instead of 16..

This comes after a two-day symposium in Rabat, Morocco organised by Caf president Ahmad Ahmad to discuss the state of African football.

Speaking after the meeting of its top executives Thursday, Caf said the tournament will expand for the first time since 1996 and be switched from its usual slot in January and February to the summer.

The tournament is usually held at the start of the year, causing disputes with European clubs who had to release players in the middle of the season.

Furthermore, AFCON will also be held exclusively in Africa and feature only nations from the continent following suggestions CAF could host the tournament elsewhere and invite non-African teams to participate and even host the tournament in an aggressive rebranding drive.

The expansion of the tournament could create problems for Cameroon, which will host the next finals, with the Central African nation’s sports minister Pierre Ismael Bidoung having to deny reports that preparations were behind schedule.